Album Review: Lust For Life, Or: 'How To Thread The Needle And Come Out The Other Side To Tell The Story' by Courting

An album full of ideas and creativity adds its makers to Liverpool’s rich musical heritage If all you knew about Courting were that they were four lads from Liverpool whose debut album was simply entitled Guitar Music, you may think you know what to expect. Straightforward rock music, possibly lauded by Noel Gallagher? Meat and potatoes guitar music with no frills and no surprises? If that’s the case, park your expectations by the door before you play Courting’s third album, Lust For Life. Some radio-friendly guitar anthems can be found, but this is an album that’s guaranteed to wrong-foot you at every turn – in the best possible way.

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This boundary between pretension and bare bones antics belies the concision of third album Lust for Life. Sought as counterpoint to the vast scope of last year's New Last Name, lead vocalist Sean Murphy-O'Neill has acknowledged the record's ubiquitous title as being "as much Iggy Pop as it is Lana Del Rey" in terms of influence - a simple yet effective pitch to the band's claim to abandoning the playbook of expectation. This is backed by the goods to some margin.

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The Liverpool quartet Courting return with their third album in three years. Lust for Life, Or: How to Thread the Needle and Come Out the Other Side to Tell the Story, covers a lot of ground in just over 25 minutes. Most of these songs are the same strong pop-rock that is their wheelhouse, but the more unusual choices are fascinating. The album opens with a single violin playing a fast but straightforward arpeggio theme.

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Returning with their third album in the space of three years , Courting have continued on their upwards trajectory, proving themselves to be an unstoppable force in the UK indie landscape, and showing no signs of slowing down through their latest project. As they unveil 'Lust For Life, Or: 'How To Thread The Needle And Come Out The Other Side To Tell The Story’', the band lay everything bare, with the body of work a culmination of everything they have worked towards these past few years, pushing their divisive blend of indie, hyper-pop, and experimental rock to new heights. Marking itself in at 25 minutes, the record has been curated with thought and devotion at every turn, from the album title, the tracklisting, and the cover art, with lead singer, Sean Murphy-O Neil explaining "I was bored of overthinking, this album is what it is is – something immediate, no excess".

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